Photo courtesy of Mercy Wolverton

One of the newest and fastest-growing sports at Mason

BY SAM DOUGLAS, STAFF WRITER

Mason has a variety of sports available on campus. Some are more well known than others, such as men’s and women’s basketball, which fills the many seats at the EagleBank Arena. However, there are a number of unhonored teams at the school filled with talented and passionate athletes.

Mason’s Women’s Club Ice Hockey team was founded in 2019 but was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t resume operations until 2023. Senior Serena Robinson took over as president with the goal of revitalizing the club. “I restarted the club from two people to getting it to more or less the point it is at now,” Robinson said.

Currently, the club consists of 16 people and practices are held at SkateQuest in Reston. They compete in the Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference (DVCHC) Division III section. This season is their first time competing since the pandemic. “We’re very excited for the season, and we’re looking to get GMU back into a hockey school,” Robinson said.

The team doesn’t get a lot of funding from the school since they are not a Mason-sponsored sport. The funds they got from Mason were only enough to cover the cost of using the arena for practice.

Photo courtesy of Mercy Wolverton

“Everything else we had to [raise] from fundraising dues or other means of allocation, all on our own,” sophomore Mercy Wolverton, the team’s current president, said.

Even with limited funding, the club is still able to make trips to play teams in Maryland and Pennsylvania as part of the DVCHC.  The club continues to grow, as they have three experienced coaches on board. “We’re definitely doing even more than we were able to do last year and hopefully that will continue to be increasing,” Wolverton said.

No experience is required to join the team. More information about Mason Women’s Club Ice Hockey can be found on their website.